For many years medical marijuana has been a hot topic in any social conversation. Many favor it and many are against it. Unfortunately, some are misinformed about this drug. Medical Marijuana, or Medical Cannabis, simply refers to the use of cannabis as a means to treat patients with diseases that require it. You may be asking yourselves: what part of marijuana is medicinal? Isn’t marijuana used just for the high of it? This article is meant to do just that: explain what Medical Cannabis is and the effects it has in treating certain diseases.
An article published September 14, 2015 by the Drug And Alcohol Review shows that a big number of people are substituting regular prescription drugs like Vicodin (pain), Zoloft (depression), Adderall (ADHD), and Xanax (anxiety) for the use of cannabis. Cannabis has proven to be a way to treat chronic pain since it helps with multiple pain syndromes. In 2009, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) presented – during their symposium – the role of cannabis in chronic pain treatment which was presented and explained thoroughly. The part of cannabis, and also medical marijuana, that attacks the chronic pain – that Vicodin also attacks – are the endocannabinoids that affect the way humans perceive pain. It affects positively on our immune system and works to reduce inflammation on the body.
The endocannabinoids are not the only ones that actively work with our system to heal chronic pain. THC is the most common chemical found in cannabis that people know about. The world, mostly the United States Senators Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand, are also talking about CBD (cannabidiol) which is a non psychoactive compound found in marijuana mostly used as an oil in states where the use of medical marijuana is legal.
The THC chemical is used to treat certain conditions, especially child epilepsy, since it is a disorder that causes the child to have multiple, violent seizures. Kate Hintz, mother of Morgan (who is a 4 year-old suffering from Dravet Syndrome), speaks about how her daughter used to have seizures almost every day but now, thanks to the CBD found in medical marihuana, her daughter’s seizures have dropped dramatically.
“When you push people to say ‘picture somebody who’s using medical marihuana’ they fall into all these stereotypes,” expresses Sen. Cory Booker in the ATTN video, “What should come to people’s mind are those children (like Morgan) that Sen. Gillibrand is talking about. What should come to mind is a PTSD veteran who is desperate for something to help them get their lives back together.”
US senator Kirsten Gillibrand, of New York, speaks to 4-year-old Morgan Hintz as her mother Kate Hintz watches, during a press conference to announce a new medical marijuana bill
When you speak medical marijuana, you have to see all the diseases it can treat. THC and CBD can treat diseases like Epilepsy, PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, ADHD and you also have to see the side-effects it has like prolonged appetite, distorted perceptions (sight, sounds or time), increased heart rate, and dry mouth to name a few. To diminish these side-effects, the NABP emphasizes the involvement of pharmacists in the talk of legalizing medical marijuana, this cannot be done without them, is something they mention.
Now I ask you, what is your view? What is your perception now that you know the scientific implications and the efforts involving this movement? Are you okay with it or not? Let us know!
Facts and other information are taken from:
https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana-medicine
https://www.facebook.com/attn/videos/vl.450791601754438/939386009430192/?type=1
http://www.jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(15)00837-8/abstract
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/22/cannabis-ptsd_n_6199254.html
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dar.12323/abstract